Nurse Leaders’ Perceptions of an Approaching Organizational Change

• Published in: Qualitative health research 2013-05, Vol.23 (5), p.689-699
• Main Authors: Salmela, Susanne, Eriksson, Katie, Fagerström, Lisbeth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety - etiology; Anxiety - psychology; Attitude of Health Personnel; Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration; Female; Health technology assessment; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Leaders; Leadership; Mergers; Middle Aged; Nurse Administrators - psychology; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing care; Organizational change; Organizational Innovation; Patient care; Perceptions; Quality of Health Care - organization & administration
• ISSN: 1049-7323; 1552-7557
• DOI: 10.1177/1049732313481501

The aim of the study was to achieve more profound understanding of nurse leaders’ perceptions of an approaching organizational change. We used a three-dimensional hermeneutical method of interpretation to analyze text from 17 interviews. The results suggest that nurse leaders were positive toward and actively engaged in continual change to their units, even though they perceived themselves as mere spectators of the change process. The nurse leaders believed that change might benefit patients and patient care, yet their adaptation lacked deeper engagement. The approaching merger affected the nurse leaders’ identities on a deeply personal level. They experienced uneasiness and anxiety with regard to being nurse leaders, the future of nursing care, and their mandate as patient advocates. Nurse leaders are in a critical position to influence the success of organizational change, but the organizations covered in this study were not incorporating their knowledge and experiences into the change.